All That Glitters || MAC Monday

  Another Mac Monday means time to share another Mac shadow from my palette and this week it's All That Glitters. This shadow is another one that seems to be quite popular in the make-up world and I can certainly see why because it's a very pretty neutral shade that isn't really similar to any others.

 The finish of the eyeshadow has a 'veluxe pearl' finish which gives a subtle shimmer but still has that pigmentation there. The colour itself is almost a peachy, beige champagne shade. It's very pretty and it looks really nice for a natural, neutral eye by itself if you're wanting to go a little more wild on the lips so I personally really love this if I'm doing a deep red or purple lip. However, it also goes really well with lots of other colours - golds, browns, peaches, it even goes lovely with the pinky tones in my Naked 3 palette. As the finish of the eyeshadow is so creamy and smooth there is no fall out either and it's also very easy to blend so great for eyeshadow newbies. It's also a fabulous one if you wake up and want to look more awake/like you haven't just rolled out of bed ten minutes before but don't really have time because it's so light it really opens up the eyes and brightens them. It's also very quick to swipe over your eyelids because it doesn't require much blending work.

 Even more so than Amber Lights (which I reviewed last week), I think All That Glitters would make a very pretty highlighter because of it's champagne shimmer it gives a nice sheen to the skin quite similar to what Benefits Watts Up  highlighter does. It also has similarities to Mac's mineralized skin finish in Soft and Gentle which I equally love. If you were going on holiday or away the weekend I'm more than positive that this treasure could do both the jobs of highlighter and eyeshadow.

Have you tried Mac All That Glitters? What's your favourite eyeshadow from Mac?

Lots of Love,

♥

Halloween Haul || Lush

 I absolutely love Lush, especially when the nights are drawing in and the weather gets colder so it was a no brainer when the Lush Halloween and Christmas collection was released that I picked some bits up. I didn't go too mental this time because I went mental with their Christmas products last year and still have quite a few left to use up because I don't have baths as much during the Summer. So for the time being I just picked up a few Halloween ones and one new Christmas release.

 The first thing I picked up was the Butterbear which isn't really that Christmassy or Halloweeny but is cute anyway. I couldn't resist this when I saw him because he's so cute and has a little pot belly. He contains lots of cocoa butter so I think he's going to create a really nice, moisturising bath. It smells very simple with the same vanilla fragrance as butterball and its plain white so I don't think it's going to do anything overly fancy in the bath but it certainly is going to be a really nice pamper product. This is one of Lush's cheapest bath bombs, only costing £1.95 so is definitely worth picking up.

 The second one I picked up is also a bath ballistic and it's the one I'm most excited to use and that is Northern Lights. I wanted it because of the name mainly as I'm assuming it's going to be similar colours as the real Northern lights and make a really pretty bath. The ballistic itself is a really unusual shape for Lush bath ballistics which also intrigued me, it's so big that I almost want to break it in two before I use it. It's also a really pretty purple shade which is one of my favourite colours and has little stars in it so definitely one I can't wait to use. This one smells exactly like either the Twilight bath ballistic or the Christmas Eve bubble bar. I can't remember which one but it definitely reminds me of one of them. It's a nice relaxing scent so one that I will be making great use of now that I'm bogged down with university coursework.

 Sparkler is a bath ballistic that's similar to Northern Lights, released for bonfire night which is exciting because I'm pretty sure it's the first time Lush have actually released anything specifically for fireworks night. It has a nice citrus smell and to me smells nicer than Northern Lights but doesn't look as pretty so that's why I ended up with both. It's a bright yellow colour so I'm hoping it'll go into the water a bright yellow or a gold rather than that pee coloured yellow but we'll see! With the name Sparkler I think it's going to be a lot like the Cinders ballistic in that it's going to crackle and pop like a sparkler does. Both Sparkler and Northern Lights cost £3.50.

 The last think I picked up was the Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar which is the most apt product I picked up that was for Halloween. This one is so pretty and it's covered in gold glitter which I think is fabulous because I do love a bitta glitter in me bath! This one is £3.50 which is really good considering you can crumble the bubble bars and they usually can last for at least 3/4 baths. I know Lush love a Disney related product and I have a sneaky suspicion that this one may be inspired by Cinderella.

Have you tried any of the Lush Halloween products this year yet? What ones your favourite?

Lots of Love,

♥

Amber Lights || MAC Monday

 In my last Mac Monday I showed a haul of my Mac palette and now that I've had time to play around with it I'm going to review the shades in it on Mac Mondays. The first one and probably my most favourite one in the palette is Amber Lights.

 I love glittery shades and this one kind of reminded me of Trick, Chopper and Half Baked from the Naked palettes which are a few of my all time favourite shades. I was a little worried that it would be too similar to them but it's still very unique and I would say if you mixed those three Naked palette shades together, you would get Amber Lights.  Most golden eye shadows have yellow bases e.g. Half Baked but this one has more orange undertones which I haven't seen in many eye shadows before. It's really pigmented, not as much as Urban Decay shadows but almost as good.

 If you have blue or green eyes then you NEED this eye shadow in your collection because it really makes them pop and stand out. It's a great shade for both nights out and everyday and I also think it looks really great for this time of year whilst the leaves are amber coloured and falling from the trees. It will also be an amazing colour for the Christmas season because of it's gold tones.

 I don't know massive amounts about MAC eye shadows and their finishes but this one is a Frost finish which going by the lipsticks I'd assume is that it looks a bit frosty on your eyelids. It's really long lasting too, it will happily last all day and all night on my eyelids but I always use a primer underneath my eye shadows. They look so much more pigmented with a primer underneath and obviously last much longer too.

 I also have a sneaky feeling that this could make a really nice highlighter too if used with a light hand.it would make a really pretty cheek bone highlight and under the brow bone.

Have you tried Amber Lights? What's your favourite MAC eyeshadow?

Lots of Love,

♥

American Apparel, Topshop, New Look, Asos & More || Haul

 I love a good shopping spree and that is what I have done, quelle surprise! These things I've collected over the past few weeks so I thought I would give you an insight into some of my latest wardrobe additions.

 The first being three more pairs of frilly socks from Topshop because as you all know I am obsessed with these. I just think they look amazing with boots, trainers, converse or even for just going about the house in. My house is like the house where socks come to die because I swear my washing machine swallows socks, they just vanish into thin air and despite the fact that I constantly buy socks I still seem to have a shortage of them. I went for a pretty peach, sunny yellow and yet another white pair because they go with everything.

 I then had a little splurge on New Look just to get some basic things that I needed including three new cami tops because they always come in so handy. I love Topshop ones but New Look ones are half the price and just as good so a little heads up to all those who love Topshop cami's. I picked up a mustard yellow shade which at first I wasn't sure about but I'm growing to love it, a white one and a black one.

 I also got a collared shirt because as I said in my September favourites I've been loving wearing collared shirts under jumpers because I love layering and keeping warm now it's getting colder so why not buy some new ones. This one has pretty floral cut out prints on it on both the top and back which is a really nice detail to a plain shirt. I personally prefer having prettier shirts underneath my jumpers anyway because then if I get too hot I can take my jumper off and still look nice and complete.

 Another collared shirt that I have bought recently is this gorgeous one from Asos that has lace panelling around the top. This has been my favourite thing ever since I got it, I think it's so delicate and cute and again looks amazing underneath cosy jumpers.. bonus!

 I then had a little online shop on H&M which I really hate doing because if you've ordered from them online before you'll know they charge £4 for delivery and always take about 10 days. I personally think that's really bad and it is one of the shops that are worst for deliveries (I find) so I personally prefer to buy things in store. However, there was something I really wanted and it wasn't in store so it was unavoidable to make an online order and of course I couldn't not add a little extra pair of socks to my basket because as previously mentioned my socks seem to grow legs and walk out my house. Also pretty much all my socks are frilly I wanted some trainer socks I could wear when I wanted to look like I wasn't wearing any socks. So I got this cute little 3 set which I think was only £4.99, it has a cute white and grey spotty pair, a pretty floral pair and a plain grey pair.

 Now the main reason I was ordering from H&M was because I'd seen these gorgeous floral trousers online and really wanted them. They're a loose cotton material and they feel so amazing on, almost like pjama's and I'm a major comfort girl so anything that I can wear that's comfy is right up my street. I wore these to uni the other day and it felt so amazing and comfy, I recommend them to anyone for work, uni or for everyday. The best part of these is that they were only £7.99!! I actually ordered a second pair for two reasons mainly because they're so amazing, comfy and cheap that why not and secondly I got a small the first time and they're really big. So I've got an extra small on the way but after waiting two weeks for the first ones I wasn't sending them back!! Love, Love, Love them.

 
 They also have pockets which is a massive plus because I hate not having somewhere to put my phone if I have to nip somewhere quickly without my bag.

 I then had another look on the Topshop website... bad idea because obviously that meant I saw things I wanted and well payday had just been so I could not stop myself. More frilly socks, did I mention I was obsessed with these?! I'm determined to beat the sock thief so hopefully I will not be short of socks for a very, very long time. I got a lilac pair and two cornflower blue pairs, one of which I had worn so didn't bother to pop in the picture.

 I also bought two new pairs of jeans, both are Joni's. I really wanted some new Leigh jeans but none of the ones in stock were ones I liked so I went for my second favourite style instead. I got two 'Winter' themed ones, not sure why but they both have Winter in their name on the website. The first pair I actually already have a pair like and it's a vintage, faded denim look, probably my most favourite look on jeans. The second pair is a really pale light blue shade which more than likely has winter in it's name because of its icy blue colour. I really like them and they look pretty with most outfits. Both of these cost £36.

 The last thing I bought is another pair of disco pants. When it comes to disco pants, I am a firm believer that it's American Apparel or they're not disco pants, they're a copy cat version that usually aren't half as good, sorry not sorry. They are however horrendously overpriced and I really do grudge spending that much money on a pair of trousers, £74 to be precise. I actually already have two pairs of disco pants, a black pair and a navy pair which I wear to death. I've had them for over two years now and I just think they're the perfect thing for dressy but not to dressy or can be made completely dressy or completely casual. They're such a versatile piece that I would advise every single girl to own a pair, not to mention how flattering they are. The one negative thing about these (bar the price) is that you have to handwash them and I am really lazy and put mine through the washing machine and they've never been the same since. Warning ladies do noooot do it, it is not worth it. They still look nice but the elastics showing through them and they are just past their best. So when I got an email saying that American Apparel had 30% discount it was just too good to resist. I wasn't planning to purchase a new pair quite so soon but when the offer was there it made sense. I paid £51.80 for mine which don't get me wrong is still ridiculous but much better than the £74.

 Even though they look sort of grey toned in the photo's I assure you they are jet black.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my little or rather big shopping haul. What things have you been buying this season?

Lots of Love,

♥

September || Beauty & Non-beauty Favourites

 This favourites post is a combination of my favourites for August and September because I didn't have enough new favourites in August to do a post on them.

 My first favourite is definitely a September favourite and that is my Naked 2 palette. I feel like I always have one of my Naked palettes in my favourites but I always change my mind on which one I like best depending on the season. So now that the weathers been getting a little bit colder, I've switched my original Naked palette for the cooler tones of the second one. My ones a little mushed up when it comes to the shade 'Verve' because I dropped mines woops.. all other shades survived though thankfully!

 My skincare favourite of August was definitely the Eucerin even brighter day cream which I used every single day. I have done a full review of this if you're interested in reading about it. My September skincare favourite however is Clinique's pore refining solutions correcting serum. I cannot preach enough about this stuff, it is a skin revolution and I would urge anyone who has any pore problems to try it out because it is faultless. It's by far better than any other product targeted at pores on the market as it actually cures the problem instead of just disguising it. I've also done a full review of this on my blog here if you want to read even more about how amazing it is.

 Another Clinique skincare product that definitely deserves it's position in my favourites is the Clinique take the day off balm. Lots of other bloggers love this and I have joined the cult, it's fabulous at removing makeup and leaves your skin feeling lovely and silky. I really enjoy using this most days in place of my Bioderma (or after it) to give my skin a really good clean. As always I have already done a previous review of this on my blog if you want to know more. (Review here)

 Maybelline the falsies, a product I had heard loads about and refused to fall for the hype but I eventually fell and consequently fell in love, This product gives great volume, great length, has great lasting power and is cheap. It genuinely is one of the best mascara's on the market and it's just a bonus that it happens to be from the drugstore. (review here)

 My lipstick favourite this month is Russian Red by MAC which really surprises me because if you'd told me a few months back that a red lipstick would be one of my favourite products I'd have looked at you like you were mental. I used to be a massive red-lipstick phobe, I'm not sure why but I just felt like if I wore red lips everyone would be looking at me or that I looked ridiculous but I think it's a lot like orange lipstick in that you need to get used to the colour on you before you have the confidence to wear it out. I really like it and I always feel very Autumnal wearing it with my tartan scarf and chelsea boots. (review here)

My non-beauty favourites over the past few months haven't been anything new really there's only a few things that I feel are worth mentioning so I thought rather than not mention any at all I'd throw it into my beauty favourites post.

This month I went to see Sex Tape on my birthday and it was really funny. A typical rom-com that's great for watching with your girlfriends or your boyfriend... defo one to avoid watching with your parents though! It has a lot of laugh out loud moments. Inbetweeners 2 is another movie I went to see over the past few months and it's another hilarious one, I love the inbetweeners so I knew it would be a good one but it was even funnier than I expected it to be... you know how the sequel is usually never as good as the original? well this definitely broke away from that rule!

  Another non-beauty favourite has been my diary that I bought because I'm not sure where I would have been without it the past few months. It has helped so much with organising my blog, when I'm in uni, the uni work I have to do, when I'm in work, when my driving lessons are and when my blog events are etc. Definitely much better than iphone calender and notes if you have a hectic life.

 My fashion favourite this month is collared shirts. I absolutely love them under jumpers and on their own. Layering is one of my favourite things about Winter because I frequently jump from being freezing cold to boiling hot especially during Winter, coming in from the freezing cold to boiling hot central heated rooms inside. I also think they just look really cute peeping over jumpers.

What things did you love last month?

Lots of Love,

♥

September || Instagram

 I love seeing peoples instagram posts and getting little updates on what people have been up too so I thought I would start doing them too. September is one of my all time favourite months of the year mainly because it's my birthday month but it's a nice changing season when the leaves begin to fall but the sun still shines.

 For my birthday I was lucky enough to receive a Michael Kors bag which I adore and I also got a Frozen birthday cake because I'm a massive kid at heart. For my birthday night out me and Gary actually just went on a nice little date night because with the pup we don't really get the chance to have them anymore. So we went to the cinema to see Sex Tape and one of my favourite things about that was the amazing Ben and Jerry's ice cream I got with extra polar bears on top... yummy!

 I also got really pretty nails done this month and had a lovely catch up with the gorgeous Hayley from waterpainteddreams

 Russian Red is a lipstick I've had on my lips loads throughout September it's such a pretty shade.

  Luca's first walk was also this month which was such a cute experience. He was definitely ready to go a walk and I'm so glad we can now take him outside and let him burn off some of his energy!

 I also treated myself to two gorgeous pairs of Winter boots which I've been loving. I love them so much that I've done a full post on them here if you're interested in finding out more about them.

 Lastly September is the month that the universities all start back again which is a double edged sword for me because I love seeing everyone again and I really enjoy learning. However it's a lot of hard work, a lot of tutorials and a lot of examinations and coursework. The one thing that always makes everything better though is having a tax free Starbucks on campus... cheap chocolate frappachino's everyday?... why not! If you want to follow me on my blog instagram then it's @whatabbyloves.

What things have you got up to in September?

Lots of Love,

♥